LOOKING AHEAD

This quarter we will look at two prophets, Daniel and Jonah, and note how Jesus spoke about them. Daniel demonstrates how to live amid an unbelieving society, faithfully serving and honoring God for decades. Jonah is less exemplary, as he initially ran from God’s calling to preach to Israel’s enemies. In both their lives, however, we see God display His love.

In lesson 1, Daniel and his friend resist pressure to conform to the Babylonian diet and customs in what may have appeared to be a low-stakes situation. This prepared them for when it would be more difficult later in life.

In lesson 2 and 3, Daniel’s friends refuse to bow to the king’s golden image, even under the threat of death. God miraculously reserved them in the fiery furnace, revealing His power and presence.

God gave Daniel a vision of the heavenly Son of Man (lesson 4) and vision of future kingdoms that proved stunningly accurate (lesson 5). This accuracy gives us confidence in Daniels’s prophecies that have not yet come to pass.

Daniel’s prayer in lesson 6 is a tremendous model. He confessed sins – both his and those of the nation – and God answered his prayer, sending an angelic messenger. We see another angel coming to Daniel in lesson 7, strengthening him and delivering a message about future events.

Jesus applied Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man coming on the clouds to Himself (lesson 8). This clearly shows that Jesus knew He was the Messiah and not merely a good teacher, as some falsely claim.

As we turn to Jonah in lesson 9, we find God’s resistant prophet fleeing in the opposite direction from God’s call, refusing to preach to Israel’s enemies. After God sent a violent storm at sea and a giant fish to swallow the prophet, Jonah finally repented (lesson 10).

Jonah obeyed God’s call to preach to Nineveh (lesson 11), but when they repented, he grew angry (lesson 12); he did not want them to receive God’s mercy. God gently rebuked him, and the book ends by challenging our attitudes toward our enemies. Jesus referred to Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish (lesson 13) and compared it to the time He would spend in the grave before His resurrection.

Tom Greene